Why do Soviet/Russian planes have the red colored wing tip, and red end of the horz. stab?

Question

On most of the Soviet and Russian planes they have the ends of the wings painted red, and I was just wondering why they do this? Here are some examples example of the red tip on airlines (sorry I'm having problems with direct links to the actual pics)... http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?aircraft_genericsearch=Ilyushin+Il-86%2F87&airlinesearch=&countrysearch=&specialsearch=&keywords=&sort_order=&page_limit=15&daterange=&range=&thumbnails=&engine_version=6.0

Thanks guys!

Answer 1

they ran out of blue painting their tanks i heard.

Answer 2

Take a look at their flag.....99% RED, Painting the planes as such is a way of showing their "colors"

Answer 3

Red was the color given to the early Soviet army during there revolution. I.E. the red army. Also there most famous place in Moscow is Red Square.

Answer 4

I dont know but they also have a green cockpit.

Answer 5

"East is Red" - slogan of the Communist Party.

And they spread this message everywhere they could, not even sparing the flying machines.

Answer 6

John B is right.

or maybe its a secret hiding place for lasers! red being the universal keep out and do not block.

Answer 7

They just needed to look good, and they decided that the color of communism would somehow be appropriate, so...